In yoga we can use our body to train our mind to become more peaceful.

We live in a world where we’re constantly stimulated. Often, if I’m waiting somewhere, like for example at a bus stop, I’ll usually grab my phone and surf the internet. But with yoga, we can train our mind not to need the constant stimulation that we’ve become addicted to in our busy modern world. This ‘doing nothing’ can be very peaceful and enjoyable. It’s the mental equivalent of taking the phone of the hook and just being alive, cherishing the present moment.

During our yoga practise, we can allow our body and mind to do ‘nothing’ by standing for a while in Mountain Pose or lying in Relaxation. Here we are asking our body to be still. This encourages the mind to be still, too.

I write steamy romances that will make your heart pound hard and your thighs surge with desire!

There was a time, not so long ago, when all I wanted was to stop my heart pounding hard and my mind surging with fear. You see, I suffered with panic attacks. The fear debilitated me on a daily basis, and the feelings of weakness undermined my self-esteem. This ‘fear of fear’ became so immense that there were times when I was scared to even go outside of my home.

At those times, all I wanted to do was write, because my imaginary world of fiction provided a soothing escape from reality. The strong female characters I created allowed me to pretend everything was okay in my world. And the sexy men in my fictive imagination were protective, loving, and strong.

Dancing Back to You is almost finished! It’s always exciting to have a hot new release! I hope to launch it in August.

I’ll be looking for beta readers and ARCS soon, so if you’re interested in grabbing a free copy of this book in exchange for beta-ing or ARC-ing, sign up to my newsletter. You’ll also get a free copy of Romancing the Real You if you sign up today! SIGN UP HERE!

For the last couple of months, I’ve been enjoying writing my new book, Dancing Back to You – Book 3 in the London Loves Series! What do you think of the photo for the cover? Sexy, isn’t it?

I wanted to share with you a sneak peek of a steamy scene between Sam and Verlaine, from Chapter Two of the new book. Verlaine has been suffering from PTSD since the house fire in Driving Me to You, which has affected his lovemaking. But today, he’s horny and ready to go! They’re at a luxury London hotel for Eva and Charlie’s wedding, and they’ve just escaped to their room!

‘…But, the only thing that mattered at the moment was the bedroom’s centrepiece – the king-sized bed. Sam and Verlaine flopped down to the squashy duvet, kissing hungrily and writhing together. Sam hurriedly undid Verlaine’s shirt, revealing his gorgeous, sculpted body…

Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana) is my favourite pose! It took me a while to grow fond of it, but it’s one of those postures that you can improve on class after class, which gives you a great sense of achievement! At first, it can seem a little challenging, because it combines an intense forward bend with a deep twist, but it can be done with the lower hand resting on a brick if you can’t touch the floor yet. The most important (and challenging) part is keeping the hips pinned in and symmetrical – they want to swing out to the side, to make the pose easier – but that’s cheating!

Revolved Triangle has many benefits. It’s a wonderful side stretch and enhances body alignment, and it builds stamina in the legs and flexibility in the upper body. It opens up the chest, to help with good posture and…

I’m so happy to be a party of the indie author community. I’ve met so many supportive writers, readers, and bloggers – the general feel is cooperation, not competition. When we all support each other, the whole community benefits, and I’d love to see the whole world working on this sharing and caring level.

The kindness that I’ve received in the last six months since I embarked on my indie journey has humbled and inspired me. Not only have I been lucky enough to meet some wonderfully supportive people to give me the benefit of their wisdom and experience, but also, people have actually been giving me their time and resources freely! For example, my proof-reader is just starting out and he wanted someone to practice on! I gladly volunteered and I wish him lots of luck with his business – I know he’ll do well! My sound engineer who helped to record and edit my audiobook gave his time and talents freely, assuring me he was enjoying helping. And my new book covers have been designed and created by a very kind and generous lady, who has given me so much of her time, knowledge, and support.

So, because of my inherent English guilt (lol!) I was inspired to give my time, experience, and knowledge to someone else to balance things out! But what could I do and who could I help? Obviously, we must be cautious about thrusting our help onto people unwarranted – that would be worse than no help at all! Luckily, I saw an opportunity to help, when my yoga teacher said she wanted someone to create a website for her, but didn’t know who to ask. That was something I could do! I’ve been blogging for 18 months and I know how to use WordPress.com! Yay!

It feels so great to help my yoga teacher. It’s not just beneficial for her to have a website, but also, it gives me a sense of achievement and something new to create. It’s been said that when we lend someone something (a pen, a book, or a hand), we tend to feel warmer towards them, and we’re more inclined to want to help them again in the future. As long as we help without resentment (or without being pushy!) then we will benefit as much as the person we’re helping.

After spending so much time, passion, and money to create and publish a novel, why on earth would I pledge to donate all proceeds from Ruby in the Dust to a local children’s charity, The Link Foundation?

There are three reasons for my decision: heritage, community, and investing in the future.

It’s easy to forget that in an affluent town like Maidenhead there are many families who struggle to give their children the basics – food, clothing, and shelter. What chance do those children have of gaining a good education and bettering their circumstances, in such unstable conditions? The Link Foundation generously supports Maidenhead children, to help them grow up strong, nourished, and educated. These children are the future custodians of our town, and we can all help to preserve a sense of community, to benefit all.

My family has lived in Maidenhead for several generations. My great-grandparents raised their family in Grenfell Avenue, and I love to look at old photos of the town, to connect with this heritage – it’s where old meets new.

This theme of ‘modern versus traditional’ is something that’s explored in Ruby in the Dust – which is set in Maidenhead. The book celebrates the useful aspects of the modern world, such as improved medicine and technology, while seeking to re-ignite the traditional sense of community in Maidenhead.

When we feel like we’re part of a community, we get a sense of belonging, and we’re more likely to behave accordingly – we’ll look out for each other and respect each other more. The most precious part of being human is sharing a connection with others. Thinking about others and spending time as a community often makes our life sparkle. Being a member of several mini-communities within Maidenhead – such as Maidenhead Speakers Club – gives me a sense of belonging. We can create that feeling on a town-wide scale. We can all come together and take pride in our common connection – the town of Maidenhead.

This highlights my final reason for wanting to give the proceeds of my book to The Link Foundation. The underlying message is: We need to look after each other because that’s how we ourselves will be protected, happy, and fulfilled. We’re ALL in this together.

Do you love romance? Do you love STRONG women? Do you love FREE prizes?

I’m honoured to have been invited with four other wonderful female authors to give away a great package of romance books. Help us celebrate a Valentines Day with a difference this year. It’s all about us women giving ourselves love and respect, by reading and writing about female characters who embark on a journey that leads to empowerment.

The books you could win are:

Driving Me To You by Julie Farrell

Love Uncovered by Evelyn Adams

Sorry’s Not Enough by J. Lea Lopez

Whiskey and Gumdrops by Jean Oram

Whispering Minds by A.T. O’Connor

Follow the links on Jean’s or A.T. O’Connor’s blogs to WIN one or all the books!

I mentioned in a recent blog post http://juliefarrellbooks.com/2013/11/20/why-im-giving-my-books-for-free/ that I was going to be using Bookbub in order to promote one of my novels, Driving Me to You. I’d heard good things about Bookbub, but I was apprehensive, because it’s expensive to get an ad on their email newsletter. They also have very tough criteria, so I was thrilled when they accepted my submission!

I’m very happy to report that the results were incredible! I had over 40,000 downloads of Driving me to You during my free promo, most of which were down to Bookbub! Driving Me to You went to NUMBER ONE in the free chart of my genre, and also to number 4 of the free chart on the whole of Amazon’s Kindle Store.

2014 is going to be a great year for me! But, before I get too excited about goal-setting and resolutions, I think it’s important to remember exactly what I’ve achieved this year. So here’s the list of how great I’ve been in 2013…

Just joking! But it is something that I’d encourage you to do. It’s so easy to forget what you’ve achieved, and only judge yourself by your current standards. But there was a time when just not having a panic attack would feel like a triumph for me. It’s still important that I stretch and challenge myself, but I can remind myself that I’ve achieved a lot just to get here, and I mustn’t be down on myself when things aren’t working out with my next project – which would be something I wouldn’t dream of doing just a few years ago.

Me and my friend Steve (who has comments on pretty much every post on this blog – thank you Steve!) have a tradition of going out for a curry just before Christmas, to look back on the year just gone. I’m looking forward to reminding myself of what we’ve both done this year. And then we can set our resolutions and goals.

Look back down the mountain at what you’ve achieved this year, and feel proud of your efforts. :)

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to all my lovely readers! X

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